Guardian Angel?
by FanofBellaandEdward
Summary: Naruto isn't liked by anyone in the village. When a creepy man addresses him on the streets, a saviour arrives in the form of an older boy. On Halloween he meets his saviour again. Naruto's pov; AU; dark undertones; implied child abuse; Halloween fic; more warnings inside


**Author's note: Happy Halloween, guys! I have no idea where this idea came from, whether it even makes sense, but it has kind of a Halloween feeling to it, so you know. Figured I'd post it today.**

 **Warnings: Naruto's pov; AU so no shinobi; foul language; implied child abuse; angst; ambiguous ending; dark undertones**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.**

 **I hope you'll like it!**

* * *

 **Guardian Angel**

There was once a boy; a frail, blond child whose eyes were as clear and blue as a bright summer's sky. Barely nine years old but he already lived on his own. He had never known his parents and nobody in the village was willing to look after him.

So he lived alone, in a tiny, grey, decrepit apartment that would soon be demolished and replaced with a large mall once the council had received permission from the state.

But the little blond boy didn't know that yet. There was nobody to talk to him about that; nobody willing to warn him that he would soon lose the only home he had ever known.

Adults avoided him for reasons unknown to him; children either screamed in terror and ran away or chased him away, while throwing rocks at him. _Monster_ they called him. _Filthy little beast_ was hissed between the teeth of adults.

It was a wonder the boy even knew his real name, given how many others names he got called by. The little boy was called Uzumaki Naruto. He didn't know who had chosen his name; had it been his parents before they disappeared or the matron of the orphanage who had been more than happy to throw him out once he had turned five years old. The old hag had never had any patience for him, had been counting the days until he could stand on his own two feet – literally – so that she could get rid of him.

He didn't go to school; he had never got the opportunity to do so. School cost money and that was something he didn't have. His days were filled with puttering around his tiny room, wandering through the village in search of food and stuff he could use in his room and exploring the streets. If he was lucky, he would encounter some tourists who didn't know him and who would buy some food for him out of pity. Those were the days he liked best, because it meant he would have food for several days.

Sometimes, when he saw children playing with each other, heard their joyful laughing and screeching, he longed to join them, to play with them, but he never did. All his attempts to join them would lead to were taunts about the scars decorating his cheeks, the laughter aimed at him as they threw rocks and other things at him and him being chased away once more.

Nobody liked him and while that really, really hurt, he had grown used to it. But he wouldn't let himself get defeated by them. One day he would do something remarkable, become someone famous – for what, he hadn't decided yet – and then they all would have to acknowledge him. Just they wait. He would be better than them all once he was grown up; he would show them that they shouldn't have underestimated him!

For now, though, he was still a little boy and he had yet to decide what he would do to become famous.

At the moment, however, he wasn't thinking at all about his future plans. Now he was trying to get back to his apartment before he froze his toes off. The end of October had already hit freezing temperatures and nobody even entertained the idea of walking on the streets this late at night. As it was nearly Halloween, nearly every house was equipped with big, carved out pumpkins – some real, some made out of plastic – and each pumpkin had a burning candlelight inside it, which caused it to cast eerie shadows across the paths. The streetlights were spread out quite far from each other and their lights couldn't reach each other, so that there were pools of darkness linking two streetlights with each other.

The wind howled in his ears and he shivered, wrapping his arms tighter around his small body. The orange jacket he had retrieved from a garbage can days ago had holes in it and barely provided any serious cover against the icy wind. Branches of the trees standing guard in front of the large houses creaked dangerously; some of those branches long enough to sweep across the ground.

"Just a bit longer," Naruto muttered through numb lips, burying his nose deeper into the scarf he had taken from a girl who had left it behind on one of the tables in the park. The fabric was thin but long, so he had wrapped it around his neck several times, hoping that it would at least cover him somewhat. His ratty backpack – the only thing he had taken with him when he left the orphanage – bumped gently against his back. While exploring the local dumpster today, he had come across several large pieces of heavy cloth. One was quite raffled and three others had several old stains on them, but he had folded them up and stuffed them inside his backpack. The upcoming winter promised to be a severe one and the more layers he had on his bed, the better. He had even been lucky enough to find a small, tattered pillow and he was holding it against his chest now as his backpack was too full at the moment. He had never had a pillow before, so he was more than happy with his discovery today. Maybe now his dingy, old mattress would be a bit more comfortable.

As he crossed the street and turned left around the corner, the beautiful houses were slowly being replaced by much smaller ones. Here the pavement was cracked in several places; questionable stains colouring the gutter and street. Some of the houses were boarded up, but there could still be noises heard from inside: squatters. There were still some people walking here at this late hour; their faces were hidden either by a hood or a cap and they all looked down as they hurried past each other. Unlike the rest of the village, this was not a place where the people stopped to exchange idle chatter.

Even at nine years old, Naruto knew better than to look any of these people in the eye. That was much too dangerous and being chased around with a knife once had been more than enough to instil that particular lesson. If you didn't want problems, you kept out of other people's business; simple as that.

If he could, Naruto would have liked to avoid this particular neighbourhood, but alas, it was the only way to get home. As long as he kept his eyes on the road and hurried along, he wouldn't get in trouble.

Well, that was how it had always gone so far. It figured that today would be an exception.

At first he hadn't taken notice of it. Cars tended to drive slowly around these parts and none of the drivers had ever bothered him before. They were looking for more interesting things than a lonely child after all.

They did, until this one.

Naruto stiffened as a dark green car slowly drove next to him, keeping pace. He quickened his pace, but all that did was have the car speeding up a little too.

Tightening his grip around his pillow, he stubbornly refused to look at the car. Maybe if he didn't pay them any attention, they would get bored and leave him alone.

No such luck.

The window lowered and a man with shaggy, shockingly white hair and electric blue eyes leant out of it, squinting up at him. A waft of alcohol nearly smacked Naruto in his face.

"What're you doing here?" the man questioned; his voice sounded thick and he seemed to be doing a lot of effort to focus.

Naruto chanced a quick glance at him before he resolutely turned his gaze back on the pavement. "Nothing, just going home," he muttered, hoping the man would leave him alone now that he had an answer.

"This late at night?" the man muttered and then leant further out of the window; his arm reaching out dangerously close to Naruto.

Instantly the boy moved out of his reach; heartbeat going up and breathing speeding up. Surely the man wouldn't step out of the car? If he did, would he be quick enough to escape? The guy was obviously drunk, so he couldn't run fast, right?

"Why you standing there?" the man asked perplexed and beckoned Naruto to come closer, which the blond adamantly refused. "Come on, get in. Take you home."

"No, thank you," Naruto said firmly, praying that his voice didn't tremble as much as he feared it did. He slowly started inching to the right, keeping a wary eye on the car. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm okay."

"Don' be stupid," the man muttered and suddenly the car stopped and he opened the door, reaching out with his hand. "Le' me take you home and - "

"He said no," a firm voice interrupted out of nowhere and Naruto's vision of the creepy white haired dude was blocked by a man stopping in front of him.

Wide eyed and frozen in fear Naruto watched how the mysterious man completely blocked him from view.

"How about you fuck off now?" his mysterious saviour spoke sharply.

"What the hell do you think you're - "

"Get the fuck away from here before I make you regret it," the man said darkly and whatever was in his face or his voice, it made the white haired man stumble and curse before the door of his car slammed shut and he drove away with screeching tires.

"You okay?" the man turned around and regarded him with scrutiny.

Except it wasn't really a man, but an older teenager by the looks of his youthful face and the school uniform of the local secondary school. He had to be at least sixteen or seventeen; black bangs framed his sharp cheekbones and dark, piercing eyes studied the blond boy intently. His skin was quite pale, but somehow he managed to look good with it instead of sickly.

With a start Naruto realised the man was addressing him and he stammered, "Y-y-yes, I'm fi-fine. Th-tha-thank you."

The older boy shrugged. "Not a problem. You looked like you needed the help. Come on, I'll get you home. It wouldn't surprise me if that fucker comes back soon."

Naruto's small hand became engulfed in a larger, pale one and he was being tugged along before he even realised what was happening. Pressing his pillow against his chest with one arm, he followed the older boy obediently, watching in surprise and growing awe how everyone else on the streets seemed to give them a wide enough breadth in order not to bump against them. He had never had that happen before; if he didn't watch out, he was more likely to be bowled over.

Silence reigned between them and even though he wanted to open his mouth and talk – because when would he ever get the chance again to talk to someone? This mysterious boy was the first person to talk to him normally in years and he even had _saved_ him! – he didn't dare to. His voice seemed to have left him in the wake of being helped for the very first time in his life.

He wanted to know more about his saviour, but shyness suddenly fell over him and he stared at the ground, his cheeks flushed. Even though he was only holding the older boy by his hand and the wind was kicking up a notch his entire body felt warm and a tiny smile broke out on his face. He accidentally squeezed the larger hand and he giggled softly when he received a soft squeeze back.

His head shot up surprised when the older boy stopped abruptly and he blinked surprised. He was already standing in front of his small apartment. That was quick!

"Here you are," the older boy said and released his hand. "Take care now, okay?"

"Thank y- " Naruto's mouth dropped open when he didn't see the other boy anymore. It was like he had disappeared into thin air.

Shaking his head in wonder he shuffled inside his apartment, pushing open the door with the right amount of force. The door screeched against the floor and he scurried inside, closing the door immediately to keep the cold outside. He hurried past several empty apartments and jiggled the doorknob of his own one to open the door.

He arranged the pillow on the mattress and fussed around with the pieces of cloth before he settled himself on his makeshift bed and snuggled underneath his new blankets. Outside the wind howled and the large tree right behind the old building creaked obnoxiously.

He was home.

That night he fell asleep with a smile on his face for the first time.

* * *

Three days later it was Halloween. Children were running from door to door, dressed as vampires, ghosts, witches and devils. Whenever a door opened, they could be heard shouting gleefully, "Trick or Treat!" and the adults laughing indulgently as they dropped pieces of candy into the children's pumpkin shaped bags.

A lonely little boy was looking at the scene longingly; his face half hidden by his scarf. His hands were tucked into his pockets and he slowly walked through the street, flinching slightly whenever one of the other children bumped against him roughly before they ran off to the next house.

He wanted nothing more than to go from house to house, getting some candy for himself, but he knew he would never get it. Not only did he not have a costume, but nobody would be willing to give candy to him either. Maybe it was time to go home for today. Wandering through the village today would only give other people the opportunity to taunt him and hurt him.

With a sigh he turned around –

And froze when he spotted the white haired man from three days ago a bit further down the street. What was he doing here?!

Naruto noticed the exact moment that the white haired man recognised him: his too bright eyes lit up in recognition and he held his hand up, walking towards him.

"Hey there! I'm glad I found you!" the man called out; the glint in his eyes growing brighter.

"St-stay back!" Naruto yelped and stumbled back, fear coursing through his entire body as the man kept walking towards him.

"Look kid, I just want to - "

A car honked loudly right behind Naruto and he whirled around, his mouth dropping open when the door of the passenger's side opened and the boy – his saviour of three days ago – leant sideways out of the car. "Come on! Get in!"

Naruto didn't have to think twice about the offer. He immediately started sprinting towards the car, hearing with growing fear how the white haired man started to chase after him.

"Wait! No, damn it! Don't get in there! You won't be – "

The creepy man's voice was cut off when Naruto slammed the car door shut behind him. Panting, heart thundering madly in his chest, he fell back against the leather seat.

"Put your seatbelt on, Naruto," the dark haired boy instructed and sped out of the street without looking back.

"Thank you again for …" Naruto trailed off and froze when realisation sank in. Slowly he turned to face the mysterious boy and asked in a trembling voice, "I – how do you know my name? I never told you my name. I – I didn't tell you where I live either."

Dark eyes looked at him, glinting feverously, and the older boy smirked.

* * *

The frail, little blond boy, hated by everyone in the village, was never seen again after that night.

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 **AN2: Still no clue what I was thinking, so don't even ask LOL Just something random I came up with.**

 **I wish you all a Happy Halloween!**

 **Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.**

 **Cuddles**

 **Melissa**

 **P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.**


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